Therapeutic irradiator for confined areas



Jam 1951 G. H. HANSEN ET AL 2,538,685

THERAPEUTIC IRRADIATOR FOR CONFINED AREAS Filed March 8, 1948 59 60 55 /a ll? 7 1r 4 deorge M Hansen Patented Jan. 16, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,538,685 easement; IRRADIATfiR ro a CONFINED AREAS George Hansen, Mission, and Gerhard J.

Schroer and. Robert T. Manley, Kansas City, Mo., assignors to 0. Earl Hovey, Kansas City,

Mo., trustee Applies-en March 8, 1948; semi No. 13am 3 Claims. (01. 240--1) the provision of a therapeutic irradiator having means to control the beam of heat and light thereof to any relatively small, confined area through employment of a specially formed shutter assembly.

Another important object of this invention is to provide in a therapeutic irradiator of the above mentioned character, means for rendering the small affected area visible through the body whereby the light rays may be directed precisely to the spot desired. 7 V 7 Other iobj'ects include the manner in which the area to be treated ma be illuminated prior to treatment; the way in which the shutter means, the therapeutic lamp, and the illuminating means may all be controlled conveniently at the exterior of the instrument itself; and details of construction per se, of such character to accomplish all of the objects above enumerated as well as many other objects hereinafter more clearly set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawing wherein: h

Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a therapeutic irradiator for confined areas made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, longitudinal, substantially central cross-sectional view through the irradiator shown in Fig. 1. h

. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view thereof, the lowermost body section being entirely removed,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram of the electrical system thereof.

A body; broadly designated by the numeral It, constitutes a pair of substantially symmetrical hollow sections I2 and I4 fitted together in lipto-lip relationship and removably held together through the medium of a pair of bolts or the like I6 and I8 at opposed ends of said body II].

The configuration and form of this body I!) is highly important and necessarily specially formedas indicated in the drawing for several important reasons. In the first place the irradiator forming the subject matter of this invention-is designed to be definitely portable and usable for treating spots ordinarily inaccessible by the conventional type of irradiator now in common use. In order to make the entire assembly relatively small, non-bulky and attractive in appearance and at the same time capable of containing all of the necessaryparts, a portion of the body It forms a handle designated broadly by the numeral 20.

This portion 20 of the body It serves not. only such purpose of providing the handle but being hollow, contains many of the component parts of the entire assembly. It is to be noted that the normally uppermostwall of section I2 forming the handle portion 20 of body It is offset andis substantially parallel with the remainder of the uppermost wall of section I2. As. clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, the handle portion 20 of body ID has a pair of side walls Hand 24 that converge as the outermost free end of the handle portion 2a is approached. Likewise, a bottom wall 26 for the handle portion 2a is disposed angularly from the main portion of body it toward the outermost free end. of the handle portion 29. It is clear, therefore, that the handle portion 2% is somewhat smallerin cross-sectional area than the remainder of body it and presents an attractive and easily gripped portion when the entire irradiator is placed in use.

The section IA of body It has an opening 28 formed in the normally bottom wall thereof and an in-turned annular flange 3% defines an opening 32 of smaller diameter than that of the opening 28. similarly, the normally uppermost wall of the section I2 has an opening 36 formed therein of substantially the same diameter as the opening 32 in the section l4 and these openings 34 and 32 are in direct alignment.

An electrical socket 3}; within the body It receives a lamp 38, the latter of which is disposed in direct alignment and between the openings 32 and 34 formed in the body II]. This lamp socket 36 is secured directly to one of the inner.- most faces of the section I2 of the body It through the medium of screws or the like at. e A transformer hereinafter more fully described and designated by the numeral 42 is likewise secured to the section I2 within body It. A shutter assembly broadly designated by the nue meral 44 is mounted within the body It and directly upon the innermost face of the bottom Wall of section I4. This shutter assembly 44 includes a pair of reciprocable plates 46 and 4B each of which is substantially L-shaped and each having ratchet teeth 56 and 52 formed on one leg thereof respectively. These plates 36 and are disposed in relative superimposed relationship, the plate 48 sliding directly upon the innermost face of flange 30 and upon inturned embossment 54 formed in the section 14. The plate as is slidable directly upon the uppermost face of the plate 48 and these two plates 35 and 48 are held against displacement by a covering plate 55 within the body It and secured to the section :4 through the medium of screws or the like 53. The plate 56 is provided with an opening G1; in co-axial alignment with the openings 32 and 34 of body In.

A small gear 52 interposed between the legs of plates to and 43 having ratchet cogs G and 52 thereon, is in mesh with such cogs 50 and 52 and is secured to a stub shaft 64 journaled at one end thereof in an opening 66 formed in the section l4 of body It and at its opposite end within an opening 58 formed in the plate 56.

It is clear from the foregoing that rotation of the gear 62 will cause reciprocation of the plates 46 and 48 in opposite directions. The rotation of this gear 62 is accomplished manually through the medium of a tubular shaft it having longitudinal slots 12 formed in the normally lowermost end thereof for receiving a transverse pin '54 in the shaft 54. This tubular shaft extends transversely through the body H] and is journaled for free rotation in an opening '16 formed in the uppermost wall of section l2.

A knob 78 secured directly to the shaft '16 and exteriorly of the body It] permits rotation of this shaft ii! and thereby the gear 62. A spring 80 coiled about the tubular shaft 16 and having one end thereof bearing against a shoulder 82 on shaft 16 and its opposite end bearing against a portion of the socket 36 yieldably holds the shaft 16 at the innermost end of its path of travel where the slots "i2 and pin 74 are in engagement.

Each of the plates 45 and 48 is provided with an opening 84 intermediate the ends thereof and specifically in that leg thereof which overlies the opening 32 in body It. These openings 84 are each substantially circular and provided with a triangular shaped portion 86. These portions 86 of the openings 84 are disposed in opposed relationship and as the plates 46 and 48 are reciprocat-ed, the hole provided by the two openings 84 will vary from a substantially circular shape to one that is polygonal as indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawing. Thus, the amount of light that may pass from the lamp 38 through the openings 32 and 28 may be varied to the minutest size as desired. A bracket 88 formed in the section E2 of body l8 carries a small illuminating lamp 90 that is disposed in offset relationship with respect to the openings 32 and 34 and the lamp 38.

Referring now to Fig. 5 of the drawing, a pair of lead lines 92 and 94 symbolizing a conventional outlet cord extending into the body Hi through an opening 96 formed in the end wall 98 of section l2, connect with a suitable source of electrical energy not shown.

A manually manipulable switch i653 secured to the innermost face of handle portion of body it has its actuating arm extending upwardly through elongated slot H32 formed in the body ID. As shown in Fig. 5, this switch 160 is movable to close a circuit either through the lamp 38 or 90 as desired. When the switch m0 is moved to one of its contacts, a circuit is closed through the lamp 38 by way of the transformer 42 and when this switch N10 is moved to its other pole, a circuit is closed through the small illuminating lamp 90, this last mentioned circuit having a resistor I04 interposed therein. This resistor :04 is mounted within the body Hl adjacent end wall 98 thereof and near the switch H10.

Assuming the component parts of the therapeutic irradiator to be formed and assembled as above described, the operation is as follows:

The lead lines 92 and 94 are connected to a source of energy as by means of an outlet plug and the body I!) moved to the point where treatment is to be given by the operator grasping the handle portion 20 thereof. The knob is rotated to open entirely the shutters 46 and 48 to the end that the operator may easily see the spot to be treated by looking directly through body I D from opening 34. By actuating the switch I00, the lamp is energized to illuminate such spot, the rays of light from lamp as passing directly through the opening 32 when the shutter assembly 44 is entirely open. While viewing the spot to be treated through the opening 34, the operator may then gradually close the shutter assembly 44 by manipulating knob 13 until only the specific confined area is illuminated by the lamp 90. When this area has definitely been determined and the operator ha the irradiator positioned precisely as desired with the shutter assembly 44 adjusted properly, the switch Hill is actuated to de-energize the circuit through lamp 90 and to energize the circuit shown in Fig. 5 through lamp 38. Lamp 38 has a transparent glass bulb, rendering the above viewing operation possible. The small deenergized filament thereof will have negligible interference.

This lamp 38 may have any of the many types of therapeutic characteristics such as ,ultraviolet or radium rays and when energized, the light and heat rays emanating therefrom will pass through the opening provided by the shutter mechanism 44 and thus outwardly through openings 32 and 28 of body I0.

It is clear from the foregoing that the instrument forming the subject matter of this invention, may be used to therapeutically treat any small confined area and in spots otherwise difiicult to reach. When so used, only that portion of the body which needs treatment will receive the benefit of the rays from lamp 38 and other parts of the body will not become effected or injured thereby.

It is now also apparent that the precise shape and configuration of the body 10 is highly important to the entire assembly, all of the mechanism of the irradiator being effectively housed within body it and the entire assembly being attractive and easily used.

While only one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it is manifest that many changes and modifications may be made particularly with respect to details of construction without departing from the broad spirit thereof as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A portable therapeutic irradiator of the kind described comprising an elongated, hollow body having a pair of opposed walls; an opening formed in each of said walls respectively, said openings being in alignment; an adjustable shutter on the innermost face of one of said walls only, movable F5 to and from a position closing the opening of said wall; manually operable shutter-actuating means coupled with the shutter and extending across the body through the other of said walls; and an electric, radiant energy creating tube having a transparent bulb mounted in said body between said walls in coaxial alignment with said openings.

2. A portable therapeutic irradiator of the kind described comprising an elongated, hollow body having a pair of opposed walls; an opening formed in each of said walls respectively, said, openings being in alignment; an adjustable shutter on the innermost face of one of said walls only, movable to and from a position closing the opening of said one wall; manually operable shutter-actuating means, said means being rotatably mounted in said other wall; an electric, radiant energy creating tube having a transparent bulb mounted in said body between said walls in coaxial alignment with said openings; and coupling structure in said body having parts-on the shutter and parts on said means for actuating said shutter upon rotation of said means.

3. A portable therapeutic irradiator of the kind described comprising an elongated, hollow body having a pair of opposed walls; an opening formed in each of said walls respectively, said openings being in alignment; an adjustable shutter on the wall; manually operable shutter-actuating means coupled with the shutter and extending across the body through the other of said walls'; an electric, radiant energy creating tube having a transparent bulb mounted in said body between said walls in coaxial alignment with said openings; an electric lamp in said body at one side of said openings, disposed to direct rays of light when illuminated toward the opening of said one wall; and manually operable means carried by said other wall for controlling alternate energization of said tube and said lamp. 7

GEORGE H. HANSEN.

GERHARD J. SCHROER.

ROBERT T. MANLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

innermost face of one of said walls only, movable to and from a position closing the opening of said UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,303,273 Evans May 13, 1919 1,318,751 Heitz Oct. 14, 1919 1,412,380 Weston Apr. 11, 1922 1,515,724 Brenkert et a1. Nov. 18, 1924 1,693,891 Dunker Dec. 4, 1928 2,003,527 Bacon et al June 4, 1935 2,093,735 Prouty Sept. 21, 1937 

